Magazine or Sheild Issue?

[lumberjack2003]

I'll chime in to say that my .40 is having the same issues. Took it to the range today and found that the 7 rd mag drops on almost every shot. The 6 rd mag only dropped once or twice. I put about 100 rounds through it.

I also have found that the extractor is showing signs of rubbing and is causing reassembly after field stripping to be very difficult.

Megzamani: thanks for posting the video, that's exactly what is going on with mine but I can't even get successive rounds through mine. I have never gotten more than 3 rounds to feed in a row...they just don't fully rack. Sometimes it will eject but not fully load, sometimes it will fail to eject. Very frustrating

Did you guys go right to S&W with the problems or did you go back to where you bought it first?

 

[Megzamani]

I bought mine in Sunday called smith in Tuesday called smith Thursday. Took it back to cabelas broken saturday. Smith would not acknowledge any problems either day called so it was going to be a no use of convincing them. Although pretty good yt video clearly shows the problem

 

[BobFr]

I'll chime in to say that my .40 is having the same issues. Took it to the range today and found that the 7 rd mag drops on almost every shot. The 6 rd mag only dropped once or twice. I put about 100 rounds through it.

I also have found that the extractor is showing signs of rubbing and is causing reassembly after field stripping to be very difficult.

Megzamani: thanks for posting the video, that's exactly what is going on with mine but I can't even get successive rounds through mine. I have never gotten more than 3 rounds to feed in a row...they just don't fully rack. Sometimes it will eject but not fully load, sometimes it will fail to eject. Very frustrating

Did you guys go right to S&W with the problems or did you go back to where you bought it first?

Same here. I shot mine for the first time today -- about 300 rounds. The 7-round magazine would drop about every other shot, sometimes it would drop for several shots in a row. I even had the range officer come over to try it to be sure I wasn't crazy. He had the same results. I shot about five magazines of the seven round variety before I gave up on that size and shot all the rest through the 6-round one.

I was going to buy a couple more of each type of mag, but I think I'll just buy a couple 6 round ones for now. Hopefully S&W will come up with a fix for this shortly.

 

[Megzamani]

dont buy any magazines they cost to much and i had the problem occur with both seven and six capacity magazines. filled to different counts as well. so it is not just full it can be any count at any time.

 

[lumberjack2003]

My .40 went back to S&W today...I'll let you guys know what they say/do.

I also had problems with it feeding and noticed wear on the extractor whichwas also somewhat deformed. Has anyone else seen this happen?

 

[htobin]

I posted this on another thread:

I have the problem. Contacted S&W and they said they would send a replacement magazine catch. When it came, it was obviously not a proper fit and worked no better. When I contacted them again, they apologized and said they had sent the wrong part. They had me return the gun. They said they were still working on a proper replacement magazine catch and told me it would be a while before it was finally produced. They estimated it would be about four weeks before I received the gun back. They are now very aware of the problem and seem convinced it is the magazine catch. I agree since my magazines were never fully seated.

 

[Megzamani]

The nines seem to be ok. Or get an xds

 

[judoka55]

Same problem with my .40 Shield. Brand new I got about 60 rounds through it before it started to drop the extended magazine. I haven’t seen the 9mm but the magazine release catch on the .40 shield is definitely different then my M&P .40 compact or my son’s full-size .40. Looks like someone made an engineering error?

I sent it back on July 17th and when I called today for an update the phone system says they are closed from July 30th to August 10th! Sounds like they have management issues besides engineering problems. I keep getting told at local gun shops that S&W are months behind in shipments you would think they would be working OT and not closing mid-summer?

 

[Hunterfz6]

I took my .40 shield to the LGS where I got it, they are sending it back to s&w for repair. I did get a email back saying I would have to send it to them to have it looked at, I had asked they send me the mag release and new spring. I replied that if they could just send me a 9mm shield in it's place I would be very greatful =) it don't hurt to ask right?

 

[Megzamani]

I did not even mess with sending it in
As I do
Not have but two pistols. I just took it back. Junkie thing that I lived so much.

 

[Shielded]

I'll chime in and say that my 9 seems fine (so far) but I have noticed that on the Shield there seems to be more tension/pressure or whatever you want to call it on the mag than any other gun I've owned. You really have to slam it home to lock-in when loaded. The amount of pressure to hold in the mag in place must be way over the norm compared to other guns. Other guns I've shot & own just require pushing the mag in with little or mild effort, but not the Shield, go figure

 

[stewj21]

My MP40C and some of my PD's MP40 full-size were dropping mags. Ship it back to SW to get it right. Don't try replacing the plastic piece (release button) since it will just waste time. Been there done that. Send to Smith.

I have two Shield 9mms and have put around 150 rounds through one with no mag drops. Hopefully I didn't just jinx myself.

 

[Hdalter]

Mag dropping

Well, add me to the list. I was finally able to get my hands on a shield at the end of July. The .40 was the only option. I took it to the range and the mag dropped after my 2nd shot. In my case, the 7 rd mag drops after every shot. The 6 works a little better but will still pop out intermittently. I only shot a few mags before it went back in the range bag.

I called smith 2 days ago and I'm still waiting on the shipping label to be emailed to me. I choose this gun over the xds because it felt a little better in my hand and I have heard good things about smiths customer service. I don't understand why it takes 2 days to get an email from smith. Seems a little strange.

It's good to hear that Smith is acknowledging this now and may be reenginneering this. I may also see if they will swap it out for a 9mm.

 

[lumberjack2003]

I just talked to SW since they reopened today. The woman said that they shipped my Shield out today so I guess I'll get it back in a couple days. She said that they replaced the magazine and the release mechanism. I hope they figured a way to make it load rounds properly too...but I'll let you guys know how it performs once I get it back.

@DHalter: FYI while I was Shield-less I picked up an XD40SC and I love it. Feels better made than the Shield and it's got a great feel in the hand which was a big part of why I bought the Shield in the first place. The recoil on the XD is much less than the Shield so at this point I have to say it's nicer to shoot than the Shield. It's quite a bit heavier and thicker though so carrying it every day is probably not as nice. I have to say though, I've carried it all day for about 1.5 weeks now and it doesn't feel like a brick at the end of the day...very manageable.

 

[Soldiernurse]

I just talked to SW since they reopened today. The woman said that they shipped my Shield out today so I guess I'll get it back in a couple days. She said that they replaced the magazine and the release mechanism. I hope they figured a way to make it load rounds properly too...but I'll let you guys know how it performs once I get it back.


@DHalter: FYI while I was Shield-less I picked up an XD40SC and I love it. Feels better made than the Shield and it's got a great feel in the hand which was a big part of why I bought the Shield in the first place. The recoil on the XD is much less than the Shield so at this point I have to say it's nicer to shoot than the Shield. It's quite a bit heavier and thicker though so carrying it every day is probably not as nice. I have to say though, I've carried it all day for about 1.5 weeks now and it doesn't feel like a brick at the end of the day...very manageable.

One more try @ the shooting range but first time out my shield mag ejected w/o my consent. I agree 101%, love my XD40sc.

 

[RobzGuns]

I gotta agree that the XDsc & XDMc are great shooting pistols and I never had any problems concealing either IWB, but as mentioned, most of how nicely it feels in the hand (the Mc does feel better to me than the SC) and shoots is the extra weight. IIRC, they both weigh in at around 26oz, compared to the Shield's 19oz.

The main reason I went with the Shield was that I can pocket carry it (both Cargo and Relaxed Fit jeans) and I much prefer to pocket carry. If I couldn't pocket carry the Shield, I wouldn't have bothered with a 6/7 round single stack, when there are so many easily concealable Double Stacks out there.

Lumberjack & Soldiernurse... How do you compare the XDsc to the M&Pc?

 

[lumberjack2003]

I only have about 100 rounds through the Shield so I'm not sure I'm the very best resource to answer your question. I've only got a day or two in carry time on the shield and that was about 3-4 weeks ago. I should have it back tomorrow though and if the weather holds, I'll put a few mags through it after work.

I can definately say that the recoil on the XD is about 65% of the recoil on the Shield. Granted, I was shooting the Shield in 90 degree heet so my hands were sweaty but I remember that at the end of 100 rounds, my muscles were quivering a little whereas the XD I could probably shoot all day long.

I also find that I can get all three fingers on the XD whereas I cannot on the Shield so that helps with how hard you have to squeeze and how much recoil you'll feel...

 

[lumberjack2003]

Got my Shield back today

I picked it up and will try to get some rounds through it tonight so I can report back. They said they replaced the mag and mag release so we'll see.

They apparently did nothing about the extractor that was rubbing nor did they do anything to fix the fact that it fails to return to battery...

Maybe after a few rounds it'll just be magically better but I have a feeling it's going back to Smith AGAIN!

 

[lumberjack2003]

Shield Repaired

Looks like they got my Shield straightened out. I got 53 rounds through it last night and the magazines stayed in 100% of the time. I did have a couple FTEs and a couple FTLs but that's about 50x better than what used to happen with the same junky Winchester ammo. The extractor still has a rub mark but so long as it doesn't get worse I'll just chalk it up to break-in.

Also, I still find it has a hard time returning to battery if you pull the slide back just an inch and release while the muzzle is pointed upward. If you hold it parallel to the ground and do the same it will return just fine (now that I greased it up).

Anyone else get theirs back from Smith?

 

[Fercho64]

OK here are my findings on my 9mm shield. The spring for both 7 and 8 round magazne are the same lenght, so I removed a coil from the 7 round magazine spring as I feel that the lenght of the spring should be relative to the lenght of the magazine housing. I have put over 300 rounds on it without any issues. Next I will put that shorter spring (the one I cut) on the 8 round magazine and see how it functions. Out of my Shield, Bersa BP9CC and Walther PPS the Shield has the hardest spring of them all and it makes it hard to feed the magazine fully loaded unless the slide is back.